Ref Number: 00223
Somerton Airfield was the place of a bizarre incident in June 1945
Ref Number: 00223
The young Anne Walker, who held the position of First Officer*, was put in charge of the plane after arriving at Somerton Airport in Cowes, and was soon at the controls. She had been sent there with her friend, Mary Wilkins Ellis in June 1945, to collect a Walrus plane each.
However, Anne’s flight was doomed because shortly after take-off, she was hit by a particularly strong gust of wind that pushed her aircraft to the side. Despite her best efforts to regain control of the aircraft, which was not known for its agility, it collided with the side of a hut and ejected her from the plane as it crashed into the ground. She was knocked unconscious as the plane burst into flames and shattered into pieces. She had suffered a head wound and three broken ribs. This even was witnessed by her friend who was sent to Somerton with her, Mary Wilkins Ellis.
Anne was able to survive the ordeal because, fortunately, a local baker’s lad who happened to be passing by raced to her aid and pulled her away from the flames. Consequently, she lived to tell the story. She spent the next several weeks at East Cowes Frank James cottage hospital before returning to active duty.
According to the account provided by Mary Wilkins Ellis, a WAFF pilot who was there at the site, at the time of the incident, and travelled with Anne to the Frank James Hospital in the ambulance:
“It has been suggested that Anne was the daughter of the famous Johnny Walker whisky family. When the family learned that their daughter had been saved, they reportedly gave a box of whisky to the ground crew as a token of their gratitude.”
*first officer (FO), also known as a co-pilot, is a pilot in addition to the captain who is the legal commander.
(Anne pictured on the left, Mary pictured on the right)
Note: All images are merely representative of the aircraft and not specific.
